2of3Mark Rocha, chancellor of City College of San Francisco, has slashed hundreds of classes to cut expenses at the school, including the longtime Older Adults program that thousands depend on for their well-being.Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle

3of3The City College Board of Trustees drew a large audience for its meeting in September, at which the trustees debated the chancellor’s proposed doubling of pay for college executives.Photo: Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

City College of San Francisco should find a way to rescue classes on which thousands of older adults depend for their well-being, rather than to abruptly end the decades-old program, Assemblyman Phil Ting wrote in a scathing letter to Chancellor Mark Rocha.

“I urge City College to ... collaborate with other state and local agencies to continue offering these vital noncredit programs as it seeks cuts,” Ting, D-San Francisco, wrote on Wednesday. “This process should have begun years ago.”

Rocha announced in November that he was ending the Older Adults program that for years has served more than 2,000 people, many in their 70s and 80s, with free, noncredit classes: exercise, computer skills, music, drawing, theater, literature, memoir-writing and more. Held in senior centers, hospitals and at the college, the 50 noncredit classes cost less than $1 million to administer.

But the cuts are part of a massive reduction in classes at City College since Rocha’s arrival in 2017 — 634 credit and noncredit classes, or 20% of all offerings. Although City College has been in a financial crisis for nearly a decade, the state has helped keep it afloat for years, pouring an average of $39 million a year into the college between 2013 and 2017, as the college struggled to retain its accreditation and retain fleeing students.

The extra money ended as Rocha arrived and, unlike his predecessors, he has been willing to deeply cut classes and jobs to match revenue, infuriating students and faculty. Since last spring, he has identified budget deficits totaling $45 million. In a major misstep last summer, Rocha tried unsuccessfully to double executive pay, then settled on 10% raises for most administrators. Last month, he announced the elimination of 281 credit classes and 64 noncredit classes — including the Older Adults program — for next semester.

A spokeswoman for Rocha said the chancellor has not responded to Ting’s letter, and would not comment.

But Ting’s letter was more than a finger-wag about the sudden loss of classes for older people.

It highlighted a tension at community colleges across California as the state begins to wean them from all-inclusive “community” colleges that cater to anyone who wishes to take classes for pleasure. Instead, in 2021, the state will begin using its funding power to force colleges to prioritize graduations, transfers, certifications, and moving through college as rapidly as possible.

City College has been a hub of resistance for years, and blaming the state for City College’s money woes has become a common refrain across San Francisco, particularly around the college and at City Hall.

“Education is expensive,” said Jenny Worley, president of the faculty union and one of hundreds of protesters who have pleaded with City Hall and the college trustees to find a way to buy out the cuts. “Having a community college instead of a ‘junior’ college costs more. We’re serving a huge number of people in San Francisco — not just the high school students who want to transfer to university.”

Ting’s letter specifically admonishes Rocha not to fault the state for its problems.

“City College has an expense problem, not a revenue problem,” Ting wrote, reminding the chancellor — complete with a chart — how the state kept City College afloat during its accreditation crisis, provided additional millions in “enrollment incentives,” and delayed the new funding formula for years to give City College and others more time to adjust.

Yet it’s not clear that Rocha has ever blamed the state. He is the college’s first chancellor to zealously comply with the new priorities. He recently defended his class cuts in a letter to Mayor London Breed and pointed to California’s forthcoming “Student Centered Funding Formula” as the reason. The new approach begins in 2021, when 30% of state allocations to college will reward improvements in the new priorities rather than enrollment alone.

Alex Randolph, president of the City College Board of Trustees, indicated that he’s on board, too.

“I agree with Assemblymember Ting,” he said. “Previous boards and administrations have kicked the can down the road for too long. This board is committed to making necessary structural changes to rebuild City College.”

The Older Adults program, meanwhile, despite its cost of $10,000 to $15,000 a class — roughly $750,000 a year — currently appears to have no advocate, caught between City College’s waning budget and California’s narrowing priorities.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Nanette Asimov serves as the health editor.

Nanette regularly covers California’s public universities — the University of California and California State University — as well as community colleges and private universities. You can find out what university leaders are up to, what's next for students and faculty, and what the latest breaking news is in on California campuses.

Previously, Nanette covered K-12 education for 20 years. Her stories led to changes in charter school laws, prompted a ban on Scientology in California public schools, and exposed cheating and censorship in testing. A past president of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Northern California chapter, Nanette has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.